The invention relates to baby walkers and the like and more particularly to devices for preventing movement of such walkers into zones of danger such as the top of a stairway. The United States government estimates that in 1991 there were 30,000 stroller accidents in the United States that required emergency room treatment of an infant. The problem is so severe that consideration has been given to a ban on the sale of such apparatus. The typical walker supports an infant sufficiently so that the infant can move on two feet about a floor. A typical scenario leading to death or serious injury includes an infant moving toward the top of a stairway and toppling down the stairway. While the invention has particular application to walkers intended for infants, it will be understood that it may also have application for walkers intended for elderly people or other suffering from physical disabilities making it difficult for that person to walk in a conventional manner. More particularly, the invention will have application, for example, for use with elderly people who may suffer both from inadequate physical strength to enable them to walk in a conventional manner as well as a handicaps resulting from Parkinson's disease or other mental disabilities.
The dangers inherent in stairs are not the only dangers that an infant or adults may be exposed to in using a walker. It may be undesirable, for example, for the person utilizing the walker to pass into a specific room, such as the kitchen, because of the presence of dangerous materials such as lye used to clean the traps in the drains from kitchens sinks as well as other poisonous or harmful materials. In other cases it may be desirable to prevent the infant or person from entering a given room because of the potential for damage some delicate electronic equipment or other work product that is disposed in a given room.
The know stroller apparatus has no constraints on the movement of the stroller.